Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002): B+

If there’s one thing I love about this film, it’s that Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay (from Chuck Barris’ 1982 “unauthorized autobiography”) leaves the question of whether Barris- the creator of such “reality TV” forebearers like “The Gong Show” and “The Dating Game”- really was a CIA operative trained to kill, or whether it was simply a Barris-conceived mind-f*#$. Me? I’m more inclined to think it’s BS, but I wouldn’t dismiss it entirely either.

That said, the movie itself- under the confident, quirky direction of first-timer George Clooney (who also plays the dry, shadowy CIA agent who recruits Barris)- does lack the go-for-broke inventiveness of previous Kaufman scripts (“Being John Malkovich,” “Human Nature,” “Adaptation”), but that shouldn’t be surprising for a couple of reasons. 1) Those three scripts were Kaufman originals (yes, even “Adaptation”), where as “Confessions”- long considered one of Hollywood’s best-unproduced screenplays- comes from an even more insidious mind- the mind of the man whose shows would usher in the likes of “The Bachelorette,” “Joe Millionaire,” and “American Idol.” 2) Clooney’s a rookie behind the camera (albeit a pretty talented one), while Spike Jonze- who directed “Malkovich” and “Adaptation”- and Michel Gondry- who helmed “Human Nature”- were visually striking vets of music videos for the likes of Bjork and the Beastie Boys, able to bring a certain visual pizazze to those films one would expect from such pedigree. But even Clooney- obviously inspired by past tutors like the Coen Brothers (“O Brother Where Art Thou?”) and Steven Soderbergh (“Out of Sight,” “Ocean’s Eleven”)- pulls some clever visual vibrancy out of his sleeve, turning this offbeat biopic into a sly faux-fantasy about leading doubles lives, deception, and the worth of one life in the grand scheme of things (no really, I’m not making this stuff up to sound pretentious; maybe I’m over-emphasizing it to make it sound more meaningful than it is, but you’ll understand when- and if- you see it).

It’s not hard to see what attracted Kaufman to the work in the first place (it’s right up his alley); it’s just as easy to see why Clooney wanted to bring it to the screen; it’s even easier to see why he- and the rest of the cast- signed on to such rich material. Clooney continues his string of suave characters as CIA agent Jim Byrd. Julia Roberts has fun playing femme fatale as the “mysterious” operative Patricia. Drew Barrymore is a delight as Barris’ long-faithful girlfriend Penny. And Sam Rockwell- perhaps best known for “The Green Mile”- is a solumn delight as Barris himself, a man ashamed of what he’s done in his career, and conflicted in his thoughts of his “hobby” of assassinating in the name of patriotism. Admittedly, it’s not the knockout breakthrough you would hope for, but it’s a pretty good place to start from. You could say the same about the movie.

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